25th G8 summit

Overview

The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia. In addition, the president of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.

The G8 summits since the late 1990s have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure. In 1999, a global Carnival Against Capital was organised by Peoples' Global Action. 4,000 people rioted in the City of London.

Leaders at the summit

The G8 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The 25th G8 summit was the first summit for German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and was the last summit for Russian president Boris Yeltsin. It was also the first and only summit for Italian prime minister Massimo D'Alema and Japanese prime minister Keizō Obuchi.

Participants

These summit participants are the current "core members" of the international forum:

The format order of this section mirrors the order of the Muskoka 2010 G8 official website -- see http://g8.gc.ca/about/member-states/

This format order is also congruent with "Summit Meetings of the Past" at website of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs – see http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/past_summit/table_e/index.html

• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Russia
• United Kingdom
• USA

• European Union

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Priorities

Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign.

Issues

The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions.

Business opportunity

For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event; as for example, the official G8 Summit magazines which have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998.

Gallery of participating leaders

Core G8 participants

File:Jean Chrétien 1993.jpg|Canada Canada Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister File:Jacques Chirac (1997) (cropped).jpg|France France Jacques Chirac, President File:Massimo D'Alema 1996.jpg|Italy Italy Massimo D'Alema, Prime Minister File:Keizo Obuchi 19980730.jpg|Japan Japan Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister File:Борис Николаевич Ельцин-1 (cropped) (cropped).jpg|Russia Russia Boris Yeltsin, President File:Tony Blair 1997.jpg|United Kingdom United KingdomTony Blair, Prime Minister File:Bill Clinton.jpg|United States United States Bill Clinton, President File:Manuel Marin 1996 (cropped).jpg|EU European Union Manuel Marín, Acting Commission President

Notes

References

• Bayne, Nicholas and Robert D. Putnam. (2000). Hanging in There: The G7 and G8 Summit in Maturity and Renewal. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing. ; OCLC 43186692
• Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations. London: Routledge. ; ; OCLC 39013643

References

1. Japan, [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] ([[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). MOFA]]): [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/past_summit/table_e/index.html Summit Meetings in the Past.]
2. Saunders, Doug. [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080704.wG8-analysis05/BNStory/International/columnists "Weight of the world too heavy for G8 shoulders,"] {{webarchive. link. (October 11, 2008 ''Globe and Mail'' (Toronto). July 5, 2008.)
3. Reuters: [https://web.archive.org/web/20081023185037/http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKB26280520080703?sp=true "Factbox: The Group of Eight: what is it?"], July 3, 2008.
4. Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt3AzOHtXwgC&dq=G7+summit&pg=PA205 ''Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations,'' p. 205.]
5. [http://www.bond.org.uk/pages/g8.html "Influencing Policy on International Development: G8,"] {{webarchive. link. (May 13, 2012 BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development). 2008.)
6. (June 18, 1999). "On this day - 18 June - 1999: Anti-capitalism demo turns violent". BBC.
7. Rieffel, Lex. [http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0327_global_governance_rieffel.aspx "Regional Voices in Global Governance: Looking to 2010 (Part IV),"] {{webarchive. link. (June 3, 2010 Brookings. March 27, 2009; [http://g8.gc.ca/about/member-states/ "core" members (Muskoka 2010 G-8, official site).] {{webarchive). link. (June 2, 2010)
8. MOFA: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/past_summit/table_e/index.html Summit (23)]; [[G8 Research Group]]: [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/1997denver/delegation.htm Delegations]; [http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/union/showpage_en_union.external.g8.php "EU and the G8"] {{webarchive. link. (February 26, 2007)
9. [http://www.prestigemediausa.com/press.htm Prestige Media:] {{webarchive. link. (May 19, 2009 [http://www.prestigemediausa.com/g8summit.htm "official" ''G8 Summit'' magazine] {{webarchive). link. (May 18, 2009)